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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22734565">Red</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/okemmelie/pseuds/okemmelie'>okemmelie</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Sad Ending, sam also exists in this but only by mention, starkid writes discord</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 17:41:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>698</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22734565</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/okemmelie/pseuds/okemmelie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Charlotte keeps forgetting her lipstick and Ted keeps bringing it back to her.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Charlotte/Ted (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Red</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>we're doing keepsakes this week and uhhhh,,, enjoy !</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Charlotte isn’t supposed to be in his bed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ted wouldn’t say he is a man of religion. He goes to church every Sunday and he prays, sure, but he doesn’t consider himself a man of God. He’s god-fearing. And that’s motivation enough. Well, he thought it was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Adultery is a sin, sure. He logically knows this, but he emotionally does not care when Charlotte starts undressing in his bedchambers late one evening after they’ve been out for a drink after work together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlotte isn’t supposed to be in his bed. Not at all, in fact. And yet, she sticks around most of the night.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The bed is empty when Ted wakes up, but he finds her lipstick on his bedside table. He doesn’t know why, but the sight of it makes him smile. He decides to pocket it so he can bring it to her later.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He sees her at work.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He sees her at work and he can think of about a million things he shouldn’t do. One of them is making out with her in the broom closet on the third floor. Then he makes out with her in the broom closet on the third floor.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her hair is messy, his tie is loose and he’s pretty sure he’s got lipstick all over his lips because on her lips it’s messy and faded. And sure enough, she reaches out and touches his lips with her thumb, revealing a red substance on the side of it once she’s done.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe I should go get an early lunch,” she whispers. “I’m not hungry yet, but I seem to have misplaced my lipstick and I don’t have a good excuse to suddenly be looking like this.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It makes Ted smile. Then he fishes the lipstick out of his pocket and hands it to her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sin is sin. And if he’s already going to face eternal punishment for having slept with Charlotte, he doesn’t see the harm in doing it again. And again. and again. And again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She keeps coming over and he keeps letting her in. Sin is sin. And if he’s going to face eternal punishment, he’s happy it’s for her. He hopes it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>with </span>
  </em>
  <span>her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She keeps forgetting stuff and he keeps bringing it to her. Most often it’s her lipstick. And most often, he finds a sneaky way to get a few kisses in at the office before he gives it back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She’s bought a new lipstick. It’s the same shade, so she keeps it at home. “One for morning application and one for the go,” she tells him. She could own all the lipsticks in the world and he wouldn’t mind, so long as he got to be the one to kiss her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then she comes around again and she forgets her lipstick again and they try something new: They make out in a bathroom this time. And it’s just as messy as it always is, but Ted likes it like that. It’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>them</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He takes the lipstick out of his chest pocket and hands it to her. She smiles, then turns to face the mirror while she reapplies.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She’s bought a new lipstick. It’s the same shade, so she keeps it at home. She doesn’t need the old one. “You’re always the one to mess it up, anyway,” she tells him as she puts the lipstick back in his pocket. “Keep it safe for me?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>God matters little in the grand scope of Ted’s life. But Charlotte? Charlotte matters.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He guards the lipstick she gave him with his life and for a long time, it’s a happy little trinket in his pocket to remind him of her whenever he feels down or just misses her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then Sam finds out. And Sam gets angry. But she begs him, asks him if they can please stay together and try again. He agrees. So long as they move far, far away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Charlotte matters. But he doesn’t choose him. She chooses Sam. She chooses Sam and she moves far, far away and all Ted is left with is a stupid lipstick tube. And sure, maybe it’s stupid, but that doesn’t stop him from keeping it in his pocket.</span>
</p>
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